Thipe’s sprinters on track

At least four are on track to qualify for the 2012 Olympics Games in London, and Thipe is dreaming of Olympic silverware.

“The thing with black athletes is that they take time to mature,” says Thipe, a former sprinter who played wing for the Blue Bulls Under-19 side.

“Look at my athletes, they didn’t win junior titles and things like that. They matured late, but they will be around for a long time.”

Simon Magakwe, now 26, was an unknown when he won the 100m at the SA championships in 2009.

He’s looking to lift the national title for the fourth straight year in Port Elizabeth this weekend, while also taking the 200m crown that has eluded him thus far.

Magakwe has beaten qualifying times in both events this year. Tsholofelo Thipe, Eugene’s wife and a veteran from the 2008 Beijing Games, has run qualifying times in the 200m and 400m.

Lebogang Moeng has achieved the qualifying standard in the men’s 200m, and Rorisang Ramonnye is just six-hundredths of a second short of the London barrier in the women’s 400m. Tshegofatso Meshoe is another potential qualifier.